Merry Christmas, everyone!

It's the holiday season - a time for social gatherings with friends and family. What a perfect time to gather all those multiplayer games and get people playing against and with each other!

Here are my personal picks (along with some personal experience of "fun" being had) for gaming fun that everyone can enjoy:

New Super Mario Bros. Wii:

The last time I experienced multiplayer was when I played with a couple of Nintendo staff and Charles "It's-a-me, Mario" Martinet back in E3 this year. Since then, I wasn't thinking much on the experience, maybe because I was too star-struck back then. But the second time around, a group of buddies got 4 players going on, and we had a roaring good time!

It's no surprise that friends will be lost, relationships will be strained, and family ties will be severed (I've even heard people call it "divorce" mode), but if you have people that don't mind the abuse, the 4-player ruckus is well worth the time and effort. Sure, you'll have people hoarding items, shoving you off platforms, and picking each other up like ragdoll items...but when everyone finishes the level, you can be sure someone will say, "wanna play the next level?" It's surprising to see my friends progress all the way to World 3 before I mentioned that we had other games to play.

Any Rock Band game:

Let's be honest - not everyone can be official rock stars, playing real instruments, and get paying gigs to perform in front of a live audience without sucking a lot. That's why there's Rock Band, to give everyone else a taste of that sensation. Heck, throw in Beatles Rock Band and get 3 mics to perform some triple harmony as a 6-person set. It's probably the best way to get people together and having fun.

And with the constant stream of new DLC songs to purchase, there really is no shortage of songs to rock to. Unless you're SUPER picky of your selection. But you have your selection from the first 2 Rock Bands, Beatles Rock Band, or even Lego Rock Band for all your pop hits. Hey, without Lego Rock Band, you'd never get to play the Ghostbusters song.

Buzz Quiz TV:

There's nothing like being a contestant in a game show, and there are so few games that give that sensation. But until You Don't Know Jack ever returns again with new games, there's Buzz Quiz TV with its 4 wireless hand buzzers. So people can still grab that extra chip or snack, and still be playing the game.

Think 4 players are too little a number? Throw in another 4 buzzers for some 8-player action! That's right, you get 8 people playing at once, giving everyone a chance to screw up on those hard-to-get-right questions. And with extra DLC packs to download, you're never run out of new questions to answer any time soon.

Those are my personal-experience picks to share. Happy Holidays, everyone!